Which is the ugliest part of Exeter’s Streatham Campus?

Exeter’s leafy grounds are well-known pretty much everywhere for their charming appearance, and are a large part of what attracts so many students to study here every year. Surely we must have the highest tree to student ratio of any UK uni.

We couldn’t possibly believe, however, that Exeter was 100 per cent pretty foliage and sprawling glass buildings, so we took on a challenge to find our campus’ very worst bits. Let us tell you, it was a struggle. Almost everywhere we looked was extremely aesthetically pleasing. However, after scouring high and low, we have managed to bring you a list of the most disgusting parts of our campus that we could find – for you to vote on your least favourite.

Old Lafrowda

I don’t think this should come as a shock to anyone. Lovingly nicknamed ‘the prison’, Old Lafrowda is viewed by anyone who doesn’t live there (and most who do) as the pits of student accommodation. We all know someone who went a bit mad from having to bide most of their time there in first year, and couldn’t wait to get out. I mean, bricks on the inside?? Who even thought that would ever look nice?

Laver

As University buildings go, Exeter’s are pretty bloody nice. So, to other unis, Laver might seem like a nice enough place to study. To us, however, it’s just a bit grim. There’s a lot of concrete, which is never a good thing, and it’s in dire need of a good clean, which you’d have thought they’d have managed to do over the months with no students or staff in there.

Harrison

There are parts of Harrison which are quite pretty, but this wall just begs belief as to why it was ever put up. We’re deffo getting prison vibes. Again, just look at how dirty those steps are. Those black bits of fluff remind us of the growths on our flatmate’s mouldy bread that we found in the cupboard after six weeks.

Kay Building

This might be kind of cheating as this building isn’t exactly in use at the moment, but whenever it was in use, it was pretty awful looking. We travelled literally to the outer edges of campus, where we had never ventured before, to find this gem. With pebble-dashed features straight out of post-war inner city London, it certainly earns its place on the list.

King Edward Studios

This place gets on the list partly because of its awful location. Perched on an annoyingly busy road, next to an industrial waste ground and subject to trains rattling past all the time- there are certainly better places to live. We’re also not sure about the off-yellow and orange colour scheme, and the strange almost-balconies that look like prison bars (Prison definitely seems to be the theme here.)

Birks Grange Canteen

Okay, we couldn’t possibly include Birks in the worst places on campus, as probably indisputably one of the best places to live in first year. The canteen, however, is less than adequate in comparison to the nicely decorated halls. Turning up to have your meals in here must be a pretty grim ordeal.